Mass effect: Black Phoenix
by GingerNinja26
Summary: A Britsh serviceman is brought into the Mass Effect universe several years before the games, can he make a difference or will he be a footnote in the history of the galaxy. First a/u self insert, trying to do something slightly different :  Rated M
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do NOT own Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 or any products related to the Mass Effect franchise, they are all owned by Bioware. **

**Mass Effect:****Black Phoenix**

Chapter One

_`Thoughts'_

"Speech"

2171 CE

Arcturus Station

Admiral Hacketts Office

Admiral Hackett, Commanding Officer of the Alliance Fifth Fleet, sat at his desk staring at the officer in front of him,

"Are you sure that this information is correct Anderson, because if not I will have you scrubbing toilets at a weather station on Pluto"

Captain David Anderson nodded,

"Yes Sir, the information came from a Prothean Data Disk found in the Archives on Mars, it not only gives the time and date of the event but the location as well. It seems that the Protheans had some way of seeing into the future erratically and infrequently otherwise I'm sure whatever happened to them would have been averted."

"So let me get this straight, in roughly 12 minutes time a portal is going to open up in _my_ office and something is going to come through, and you don't want security here to contain any threat it may pose."

Just as Captain Anderson was about to reply a pulsating sphere, the size a tennis ball, flew into Hacketts office from _outside _the window and stopped in between the two officers._(a/n the window looks out into space and the fifth fleet)_ For a few moments neither men said anything as the tennis ball sized object started flashing through the colours of the spectrum. With a final blinding flash, which blinded the two officers, the strange pulsating object disappeared leaving behind an unconscious human being.

When the the two officers regained their vision they were greeted by the unmistakeable form of a tall human male wearing a combat uniform not seen in nearly 200 years and that was last worn by Her Majesties Armed Forces of the United kingdom.

"Anderson"

"Yes Sir ?"

"I think a guest has arrived and early I might add, lets get him onto the couch and wake him up, I want some answers."

Between them they managed to manoeuvre the new arrival on to the couch, which was positioned by the side wall of the office, and stood back.

"Admiral, shall I get security and a medical team standing by just in case?"

"No, I'm pretty sure this person means us no harm and I'm sure he has a few questions for us as well. Go ahead and wake him."

Mentally preying to several different gods in his head Captain Anderson approached the person on the couch and pondered on the best way to wake him without being perceived as a threat when the mysterious persons eyes opened and looked around. When the persons gaze landed on Captain Anderson the eyes widened and jumped up.

"Where the bloody hell am I and who the fuck are you two?" the visitors voice was deep and rough but laced with steel.

"I am Admiral Hackett and this is Captain Anderson of the Alliance Navy's Fifth Fleet, and who are you?" Hacketts voice carried the tone of command that only certain officers ever learn.

Coming to attention and snapping a salute to the two officers the visitor said,

"Q8440332, SAC Gareth ******, 7th June 1990 Sir" (a/n Senior Air-craftsman – RAF rank)

Stunned silence blanketed the office as the now named stood to attention like a statue, eventually Admiral Hackett broke the silence by croaking out,

"You were born when! That can't be possible, you don't look a day over 20, I've got to check this out."

While the Admiral was tapping away at his terminal Captain Anderson turned to the young airman and cast a critical gaze over him from head to toe, the young man stood at around the 6' 8" mark in height with a broad chest that tapered down to a narrow waist and powerfully built legs, his hair was dark brown in colour and shaved short while the face could have been carved from granite, all square and solid, the eyes were a deep mahogany brown with laughter lines in the corners.

At this point Admiral Hackett walked back over and looked the statue still soldier and said

"Airman, Welcome to 2171 and Arcturus Station, 34 light years from earth."

The airman stood there in shock as the words 2171 echoed round his head until finally he shook his head and looked at the two officers and sighed, shoulders slumping as the reality kicked.

"Sirs', I hope I'm dreaming because the last thing I remember was going to bed after playing a computer game called Mass Effect 3 and it was the year 2012, and if I'm not dreaming then I'm up the brown creek without a paddle or a canoe."

"Son, you're not dreaming I'm afraid, I just had a look at the old records and you are down as MIA as of the 16th March 2012." stated Hackett while an idea started to germinate in his head.

"Admiral, Captain. If I'm stuck here nearly 160 years into my future then I need to do something, I've been in the military all my working life and now I've got nothing but knowledge from a damn game."

"Gareth, may I call you that," at the young man's nod Captain Anderson continued,

"Gareth, you mentioned something about knowledge from a game, what do you mean."

Hanging his head Gareth rubbed his face with his hands and spoke,

"We may as well get comfortable as this may take a while."

****Several Hours of discussing the Mass effect trilogy later****

"Damn, that's a lot of information to drop on us Gareth but if you are right then we need to get you prepared and trained up properly, and I think you'll like this idea. We'll create a new profile for you with a new background stating you are a survivor from a Batarian raid on Mindior last year and you've been in rehab since getting over the trauma. We'll enlist you into the Alliance and nominate you for further training at ICT (Interplanetary Combatives Training)or N-School as its also known. When you've finished training no matter what level you reach we will sort something out regards a posting where you can help against Saren and the Geth." announced Admiral Hackett.

Gareth sat looking at the two senior officers and breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't going to lock him up in a padded cell and throw away the key,

"Sir, I accept and I'll do my best not to let you down"

The two officers smiled at the obvious relief on their newest recruit, both thinking along the lines of `_We have an edge in this galaxy'_

Several levels below the Admirals office at the Alliance recruitment centre a young woman entered and walked up to the desk sergeant and said,

"I'd like to sign up please"

The desk sergeant looked up at her and smiled,

"What's your name miss?"

With a returning smile she replied,

"Shepard, Zoe Shepard"

A/N OK Ladies and Gents this is my first Mass Effect Fan Fic and my first attempt at a self insert :) all constructive and helpful messages will be read and I will try to answer any questions also flames will be ignored :) R&R and enjoy

A/N 2 – All thanks goes to Herr Wozzeck, iNf3ctioNZ, Empeorie, AlexMalix, LycanWolff, Commander Kitsune, Demon Spartan and Gale1243 for inspiring me with their superb stories.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do NOT own Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 or any products related to the Mass Effect franchise, they are all owned by Bioware. **

**A big thanks to CallsignReaper01 for the review and alert, also to Fan213, douchiesnacks, wheelersigmar and jakethecap for the alerts :) I hope you enjoy this next chapter **

**Mass Effect:****Black Phoenix**

Chapter Two

_`Thoughts'_

"Speech"

Early 2183

Arcturus Station

Lieutenant Commander Gareth ******, newly graduated from the N-School as an N7, was walking towards Admiral Hacketts office to get his new assignment when he heard someone shouting his name,

"Yo Gareth wait for me will you."

Turning around he noticed it was his best friend from N-School, Zoe Shepard, she was running to catch up with him while effortlessly dodging around the heavy foot traffic of the station. As she danced around a cluster of new recruits Gareth couldn't help but admire her appearance, at 5' 10" tall with black shoulder length hair and sapphire blue eyes, Zoe could turn heads every where she went. As she caught up with him, Gareth couldn't miss the huge grin that was gracing Zoe's face,

"Hey Zoe, what's got you has happy as a marine on shore leave?" inquired Gareth as the two N7 commando's carried on walking to the Admirals office.

"You mean apart from finally graduating from N-School as one of the only 2 N7 graduates out of 800 trainees or the fact I've just been told that my mom is here to see me or that I can finally find out where I'm getting posted hmm what do you think"

"You know, I think I'll give you my answer after I've seen the Admiral just to keep you in suspense ha-ha" grinned Gareth as the two of them eventually reached the Admirals office.

"Lieutenant Commander ******, the Admiral is ready for you, please go straight on in. Lieutenant Commander Shepard please take a seat till the Admiral is ready for you." came the synthesized voice of the VI secretary bringing the two to a halt as the reality of their new ranks and training hit them.

Smiling his half smile Gareth grinned down at Zoe and took a couple of deep breaths to steady his nerves as he stepped into the office that he hadn't seen in about 12 years, marching up to the Admirals desk Gareth heard the door shut and lock behind him while snapping to attention and saluting the Admiral.

"Lieutenant Commander ****** reporting as ordered sir"

Admiral Hackett put his elbows on is desk and took a good long look at the officer in front of him,

"At ease Gareth, I've been going over your training records and I'm impressed, you and Commander Shepard broke all records between you and you both earned medals and citations for your actions during the Skyllian Blitz and during the Theshaca raids where you got injured. With the information you told us when you arrived here I've managed to pull a few strings and I have already sent the 212 and 232 Brigades, of the 2nd Frontier Division, to Eden Prime. There you will be join them as an advisor and training officer from the 103rd Division. Your main objectives are to train the marines extensively in urban and non-urban combat including hand to hand, you will have access to both light and heavy mechs for training purposes and as a defensive force. Occasionally we may need you to take a squad and assault any pirate or slaver bases nearby, you are also to help train up the local militia to help defend the colony and surrounding areas. Any questions?"

"No Sir"

"Good you leave in 3 hours, by the way we will be equipping you an new radio system which should be able to broadcast and receive even with hostile jammers active. Your dismissed Gareth and send Commander Shepard on your way out."

Stepping put of the Admirals office a few minutes later Gareth noticed that Zoe had sprung up and was bouncing on her toes while waiting for Gareth to tell her his news.

"Zoe, your next don't worry I'll tell where I'm going when you come out I promise." After his friend had marched into the Admirals office Gareth sat down to wait for his friend, while he sat there he mentally started to run a check list on what he wanted to do to with his new posting.

_#1 Get cameras set up around the dig site and other areas,_

_#2 Make sure the marines, militia and civvies know what to do in case there is an attack_

_#3 Help as many marines as possible to survive_

_#4 Have fun'_

Hearing the door open and close Gareth glanced up as Lieutenant Commander Zoe Shepard came bouncing down the corridor, a smile that lit up the area brighter than a set of floodlights graced her face.

"So Gareth, are you going to tell me where Admiral Hackett has sent you"

With a straight poker face Gareth replied,

"Sure but it's all hush hush, top secret you know," glancing around as if looking for eavesdroppers Gareth leaned towards Zoe and whispered in her ear,

"I'm the new janitor here at the station, bet you never thought of that did you."

Silence reigned for all of 3 seconds until unable to help himself Gareth burst out laughing as Zoe stood there mouth gaping like a fish, shaking her head and sending her friend her best glare Zoe prodded Gareth in the chest,

"You prat, now tell me the truth or by god I'll hurt you"

Putting his hands up in surrender, Gareth said,

"OK, officially I'm now with the 103rd Division but I'm being attached to the 212 and 232 Brigades of the 2nd frontier Division to give the Marines and local militia's advanced training while pirate and slaver hunting. What about you?"

Zoe was impressed with her best friends new posting but she knew he had earned it with his actions during the Skyllian Blitz and the Theshaca Raids where surviving Batarian pirates had started calling him 'Mae`r Phoenix Du' or 'The Black Phoenix' due to his uncanny ability to strike from the shadows and then leave fake evidence of a fatal wound while striking from another direction. Realising that Gareth was waiting her reply Zoe snapped to attention and in a crisp military tone said,

"I'm the new XO of a new frigate called the Normandy under the command of none other than Captain Anderson himself." relaxing slightly Zoe looked at her friend and continued

"I've been told to report to the Normandy in 2 hours to help Captain Anderson choose who to have on the final crew roster." Zoe's enthusiasm died down when she suddenly realised that in a couple of hours she would be going on her first assignment without her best friend there.

"I've also been told to report for departure in a couple of hours, but even though we have separate postings we have each others com channel frequencies and addresses so there is no reason at all not to stay out of touch, plus we can also arrange to meet up on leave or something." giving out a huge sigh Gareth knew he would be seeing his best friend before the year was out but he couldn't tell her without losing her friendship.

Heading towards the officers quarters where their gear was currently stored the friends gave each other a hug and a fond farewell before heading in different directions and a new future.

A/N Mae'r Phoenix Du is Welsh for The Black Phoenix according to Google translator.

Sorry if the end of the chapter seemed rushed but I needed it to end before it got to silly and/or emotional :) R&R as always and enjoy


End file.
